Mediacom has reshuffled the leadership of its Melbourne office, promoting Phil Phelan to become managing director, succeeding Mark Pejic.
Pejic, who was elevated to become Mediacom’s chief operating officer in August, will continue to be based in Melbourne but will focus upon the agency’s national investments.
Phelan, who is currently joint head of strategy, will retain his existing responsibilities alongside the MD role. He has been at Mediacom for the past 11 years.
The change follows the departure of Simon Ryan, Mediacom Melbourne’s general manager, to Carat. Ryan will become MD of Carat Melbourne in the New Year.
“I thought about an external appointment but then the penny dropped that we have got the perfect internal candidate,” Pejic told B&T Today.
“Phil is strong both intellectually and strategically and he has led our strategic product for the past decade. He’s really driven our strategy, ROI, content, research and new media.
“We have completely different personalities, but it works well. I can’t remember us having a fight in the past 11 years. We really respect each other.
“Having a strategic lead in a management role is still unusual in Australia, but Phil is not your usual strategist or not your usual guy for that matter.”
Phelan said: “It’s a great opportunity and I think we’ve created a unique environment here. We’ve produced good creative work but we are still a business minded agency. We have a high client and staff retention rate because of that environment.
“There is still an opportunity to grow our specialisms. Clients now recognise the huge value in things like e-commerce and social media.”
Mediacom Melbourne has already hired Trent Collett, from MEC Vancouver, to take on some of the business and client relationships previously handled by Ryan.
Pejic said that the agency was actively searching for a strategist and was looking to hire “up to eight” new members of staff in strategy, digital and research by February next year.
Phelan added: “There are very few other media agencies in Melbourne that are actually growing. This year has been very intense, but I think 2010 will be different – we are seeing the green shoots of recovery. The challenge is to attract and hold the best talent.”
